Ex-Pacheco star Ginda foregoing final year at San Jose State to enter NFL draft

Frank Ginda, the former Pacheco High football standout, said Friday morning he is foregoing his final year at San Jose State to enter next spring’s NFL Draft.

In a Tweet, he explained his decision in four paragraphs, ending by saying: “Growing up in Los Banos, California, I was a small town kid that dreamed big and since then, I knew I wanted to play football at the highest level; The NFL. ... I have decided to forgo my senior season and enter the 2018 NFL Draft. I will forever bleed Blue and Gold.”

Last summer, he told the Merced Sun-Star’s Shawn Jansen: “Whenever I need to push myself I look at my screensaver on my phone. It's a picture of the NFL, the actual logo. That's my dream. That's my purpose. The first thing I wake up to is my phone when I turn off the alarm. So the first thing I see each morning is that NFL logo. That's how I start each day.”

In 2017, Ginda’s 173 tackles set a Mountain West Conference record and were eighth best among NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) players. His 13.31 tackles a game are 20th best among FBS players since 2000 when the NCAA standardized the statistics.

He became just the second San Jose State linebacker to earn first-team Mountain West football honors since the Spartans joined the conference in 2013.

He’s been reportedly projected to be drafted on the third day, possibly as high as the fourth round.